Memories Bonded in Steele
by MaggyBeth
Summary: Two years after Bonds of Steele the subject of what comes next is going to arise. Also the questions of why Steele acted the way he did.


Name: Memories Bonded in Steele  
Author: Magbeth  
Summary: Two years after Bonds of Steele the subject of   
what comes next is going to arise. Also the questions of   
why Steele acted the way he did.  
Disclaimer: Guess what? I don't know own Mr. Steele, Mrs.   
Holt Steele, Clarise or Mildred Krebs. Someone else owns   
them. Oh and I'm not making any money off of this.  
  
Things hadn't been going well for employees of Remington   
Steele Investigations. Two years had past. Mildred was   
worried her two kids would end the one thing that made them   
both so happy. She was concerned for them. Their   
relationship was under a strain, had been for two weeks   
now. Every morning she would watch as they walked in, said   
their good mornings to her, and walked into their separate   
offices. No more touches, no more long glances and none of   
the teasing banter that she enjoyed listening to over the   
years. Something was wrong and she had a feeling it was   
because the two years of their unofficial marriage was   
coming to an end and they had no idea what the other one   
was going to do. It was so like them to not talk about   
their problems.  
  
It was 9 o'clock and the agency was now open and when the   
phones started to ring Mildred momentarily forgot about her   
previous concerns as she was caught up in answering the   
caller's questions.   
  
Laura Holt Steele was sitting in her office staring at an   
open file on her desk. She had been doing a lot of that   
lately. Just staring that is. She couldn't concentrate on   
anything important when her life was about to fall out from   
under her once again. After Ireland things had gone back to   
normal for the most part. The only thing that changed was   
the fact that her and Mr. Steele were a "married" couple.   
They had gotten the hang of that pretty fast and as far as   
she could tell Mr. Steele was happy. God knows she was. But   
now that the two years were coming to an end was he going   
to suggest that they go their separate ways? Was he going   
to leave her like she always feared he was? They of course   
hadn't talked about it.   
  
She sighed and rubbed at her aching eyes. The silence was   
frustrating. Not knowing what was going to happen was   
slowly killing her. There wasn't even any cases she could   
burry herself in. It was that time of the year when there   
seemed to be no one that needed help from a detective.   
When Laura heard someone softly knock on the door to her   
office, she glanced up at the doorway and muttered a   
halfhearted "Come in". Mildred opened the door a crack and   
poked her heard inside.   
  
"May I make a suggestion hun?" Mildred asked.  
At Laura's confused look she continued. "Go and talk to him   
about it." She gave her a knowing smile. "It will make the   
both of you feel a lot better." Mildred silently closed the   
door behind her, a smug smile tugging at the corner of her   
face. There, maybe that would give Laura a little push in   
the right direction.   
  
After Mildred had closed the door, Laura had laughed a   
little to herself. Only Mildred would understand what was   
going on.   
  
Remington Steele paced nervously back and forth across his   
office. Things between Laura and him were fast approaching   
a disaster. And he didn't know what she was thinking. He   
knew Laura to well, and he would make a bet that her   
reasonable side was getting in the way of what her heart   
wanted. And that reasonable side was telling her to go   
ahead and take the divorce. There wasn't a doubt in his   
mind that Laura loved him. And he was fairly certain that   
she knew he loved her. The thing he was most scared of was   
how she was going to react when he told her that their   
marriage wasn't as fake as he had led her to believe.   
  
Remington stopped in mid stride when the connecting door to   
Laura's office flew open and Laura came breezing through.  
"I can't take this anymore!" She bellowed. "We need to   
talk, and we need to talk about it now. What are we going   
to do?" There, she got it out. Now all she had to do was   
wait patiently for him to tell her that he was going to   
leave her.   
  
Remington recognized that look her in eyes all to well. It   
was the defensive one, the one that read, I know your going   
to leave me so just get on with it. His shoulders slumped   
and he let out a small sigh of frustration. Laura for her   
part just stood there with her hands on her hips observing   
him.  
  
He slowly walked up to her and placed his hands on her   
shoulders. He peered down into her eyes, forcing her to   
look at him.  
  
"Laura, "He shook her a little for emphasis, "I am not   
going to leave you, lets make that clear right now." He   
took her into his arms and hugged her tightly.  
  
"I'm glad" She responded, her head barried in the crook of   
his arm.  
  
His fear of her leaving him dissipated instantly, obviously   
if she was glad that he wasn't leaving it certainly had to   
mean that she wouldn't be leaving him, right?   
  
"So we are going to stay with this fake marriage of ours?"   
Laura asked hesitantly. "There are still some things we   
never talked about that day, you know."  
  
"Yes I know. There are something's that you need to know."   
He told her, gently leading her by the elbow over to the   
love seat. She sat down with him right next to her.   
  
"Like what?" She asked.   
  
"First lets get all of those things we never talked about   
over and done with, shall we?" He smiled, trying to buy   
himself some time.   
  
"Okay, for starters why didn't you come to me in the first   
place? Why a hooker? Did I really mean so little to you   
back then?" She inquired, only slightly nervous about his   
answer. She knew he loved her, but exactly how far back did   
that love go?  
  
"Laura," he started, reaching across and gently taking her   
smaller hand in his larger one. "I fell for you the first   
day I met you. That's why I stayed. And the longer I stayed   
the more I fell in love with you. There were times I   
suspected that I would never be able to get through that   
wall you had built around yourself and at those times I   
would try to get your attention by making you jealous.   
That's not why I asked Clarise to marry me. I honestly   
don't know what was going threw my mind that day. At the   
time it seemed to be the only way out, finding Clarisa's   
number at the bottom of my nightstand drawer gave me the   
idea. So I called her up and explained why I needed her to   
marry me and that I was willing to pay. It was simply a way   
to keep me in the country, nothing more. I felt guilty   
about not telling you, but I didn't want you to worry, it   
was my problem and I was going to solve it." He paused,   
searching for the right words. But Laura interrupted him.  
  
"I would have helped you know. After all it's the passport   
we gave you that got you into that mess." She told him,   
squeezing his hand.  
  
"Yes well, I was determined to take care of it on my own,   
prove to you that I could do it. I should have known that I   
wouldn't have been able to keep something this big from a   
wonderful detective like Laura Holt. But I couldn't ask you   
to risk everything. I was trying to protect you." He   
explained. "If for some reason they had found out that we   
married just to keep me in the country it would have meant   
trouble for the both of us, more importantly…you. I   
couldn't allow you to risk it, the agency, your license,   
and even if I had been caught with my marriage to Clarisa I   
was prepared to take the fall, if only to spare you. And   
even though we did love each other, we would still only be   
marrying each other to keep me from leaving. If we were to   
ever take that step Laura, I wanted it to be for all the   
right reasons and not under those circumstances."  
  
Laura's eyes grew moist at his confession, only now   
realizing the depth of his devotion to her. He quickly   
wiped away the tears threatening to fall.   
"You do realize that I can take care of myself and that   
just maybe I did want to take that risk? I agree with you,   
it wasn't the marriage I always imagined us having but it   
hurt to think you chose a hooker over me." She said, glad   
that she was wrong, that he really hadn't chosen Clarise   
over her.  
  
"There is another reason why I didn't go to you in the   
first place." He told her gently, looking straight into her   
eyes. "If I was so scared of you getting hurt why didn't I   
just let myself get deported? I asked myself that same   
question a million times and I always came up with the same   
answer. I couldn't leave you. I didn't want to put you into   
that kind of position yet I was going to marry Clarise and   
break both of our hearts. But the main reason was I was   
scared to go to you. At the time I didn't know where I   
stood with you. Why would someone as attractive and   
brilliant as you want an ex-con man like myself? To say the   
least, I took the easy way out."   
  
"Of course I wanted you! I have always wanted you. I   
realize that some of that was my fault. I should have never   
have pushed you away so many times. I'm surprised you stuck   
by me as long as you did." She slowly scooted closer to   
him, laying her head on his shoulder and burrowing herself   
into him. He put his arms around her and held her close. He   
closed his eyes and inhaled her scent.   
  
Outside the door Mildred listened intently. So far there   
was no yelling. She smiled to herself, thankful that   
everything seemed to be going well. A noise from the door   
caused her to turn around, she gasped when she saw who was   
standing there. Not now she pleaded. Not now when   
everything was going so well.  
  
Inside Steele's office he was preparing to tell Laura the   
truth. He pulled her closer to him, praying that she would   
still be there when this was over.   
She pulled back a little to glance up at him. "So now that   
I know why you did what you did what are we going to do   
about this two year deal? Do you want to end this fake   
marriage and proceed with the way things were before that   
day? Or would you care to take a real exchange of the   
vows?" she asked, smiling up at him through her tears.   
  
"Laura, love, I'm afraid that those wedding vows couldn't   
get more real." He grimaced at the confused and wary   
expression on her face.  
  
"What is that suppose to mean!?" Laura exclaimed. Her voice   
rising an octave.   
  
Mildred heard Laura's raised voice and slumped in defeat.   
Things weren't looking so bright after all. She took a   
glance at the person who had just walked in. Tony Roselli   
had a smug look on his face. He obviously had also heard   
the shout.  
  
"Is everything not going so well in paradise?" He asked.   
Smiling a sure smile.  
  
"Everything is just fine I assure you. Now just crawl back   
into the hole you came out of!" Mildred's eyes were blazing   
fire.   
  
"Not until I speak to Laura." He made a move toward the   
office door but Mildred effectively blocked his entrance.  
  
  
  
"Now Laura…" Steele said, trying to calm her.  
  
"Don't you now Laura me! What did you mean by that!" She   
was standing now, looking down at him from his perch on the   
couch. He better mean what she thinks he means by that.   
  
"Laura just calm down." He tried to reason, standing up and   
grasping her shoulders firmly with both hands. "Remember   
what I told you about not letting you risk everything?"  
  
"Yes"   
  
"Well, once you found out about the wedding and stopped it,   
thank god, I still wasn't going to let you put yourself on   
the line like that for me. What if they had found out it   
was a fraud? And you would have never agreed to marry me by   
then. You were as mad as hell. So I did what I do best, I   
conned you into believing it wasn't real. I was surprised   
you didn't catch on. I mean, did you see anyone else   
manning the boat? It was the captain who married us. The   
certificates were real and so were the witnesses. In the   
long run I ended up with the kind of marriage I didn't want   
for us but I did manage to marry you. Everything was way   
out of hand. I'm not proud of what I did."  
  
Laura was glaring at him. She roughly pulled out of his   
grasp and stalked over to the window. "You did what! I   
can't believe you would do that to me! Then again what else   
could I have expected from you. You were always trying to   
work angles. Trying ways to get to me! How would you know I   
wouldn't have married you?" She turned to stare out the   
window. Her back ram rod straight, stubbornly refusing to   
look at him.  
  
"You said so yourself for one thing. And it wasn't just   
another way to get into your bed Laura. You weren't going   
to let me marry Clarise but your weren't going to let me   
really marry you either. At the time it looked to be the   
only way to ensure you didn't loose everything you worked   
for. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if you had."  
Looking back at him she said, "I was angry, I didn't mean   
it." She told him truthfully. She turned away from him and   
continued to stare out the window. "And you can't honestly   
stand there and tell me it was a purely unselfish reason   
for conning me into marrying you" The edge had returned to   
her voice.  
  
"I realize that now. Everything was so messed up. I don't   
have any real excuses. And no, there are some very selfish   
reasons. I can only hope that you will forgive me,   
understand that I love you and that you won't leave me." As   
he said this he walked up behind her but made no attempt to   
reach out for her.  
  
She turned around and gave him a sad smile. "Well, on the   
one hand what you pulled was deceptive and I should be mad   
at you, which I am. But then on the other hand no one has   
ever done anything like that for me before, no one has ever   
been that desperate. Some of it is still my fault I guess.   
I understand more than you think I do. I don't hate you, I   
just need some time to think." She reached out and squeezed   
his arm. She gave him one last smile and headed for her   
office. She went in and grabbed her purse, opened the door   
to the outer office and stopped in her tracks.  
  
Mildred had positioned herself between the door to Mr.   
Steele's office and Tony.   
  
"There is no way I am going to let you interrupt them." She   
said firmly.   
  
"You can't keep me from talking to her Ms. Krebs." He   
responded. They both turned at the sound of Laura's office   
door opening.   
  
"What are you doing here?" Laura asked suspiciously.   
  
"I came to rescue you from that con man you call a   
husband." Tony said, moving in her direction.  
  
"You picked a bad time Tony." She said, holding up a hand   
to keep him at bay.  
  
"Didn't sound like it to me." He told her smugly. The two   
years are up, he will leave you and I will be here to pick   
up the pieces."   
  
"He isn't going to leave me. For right now we are still   
married and even if we did divorce I certainly wouldn't   
come running to you." She said angrily. "I suggest you   
leave before you start some serious trouble."   
  
"Laura…" Steele called, pushing the office door open. His   
eyes narrowed at the site of Tony. "What the bloody hell   
are you doing here!"   
  
"I was just leaving. See you around Laura. It was nice   
talking to you Mildred." He waved his hand and disappeared   
through the double doors. They hadn't heard the last of   
him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
~~~  
  
After Laura had left Remington filled Mildred in on what   
had happened. She couldn't believe what the chief had   
pulled. Inwardly she wished someone would love her as much.   
She had watched with a heavy heart as he walked back into   
the office. He was afraid she wouldn't take him back. Tony   
showing up hadn't helped either. Mildred busied herself   
with her work, trying to forget for a moment what a mess   
things had become.   
  
Laura drove around for a couple of hours before pulling up   
in front of the house they had shared for the past two   
years. She had done a lot of thinking. She knew she would   
never have the courage to send him packing. And to be   
truthful, if she hadn't been so persistent at keeping them   
at a professional distance then maybe he would have had   
enough trust in her to come to her with the marriage issue.   
She just couldn't believe that he would con her of all   
people. Cant live with him and cant live without him.   
  
Making up her mind to forgive him, she had climbed out of   
the car and went inside. She decided to cook them up a   
dinner. Contrary to popular belief, she did have some   
cooking skills.   
  
Half hour into making their dinner a knock sounded at the   
door. "Coming" she called. She wiped her hands off on the   
dishtowel she had been holding and hurried to answer the   
door. The smile she had been wearing vanished as she saw   
who was on the other side.  
  
"I thought you were gone." She said, disappointment evident   
in her voice.  
  
"I'm hurt Laura, you don't sound happy to see me." Tony   
replied, holding a hand to his heart acting like she had   
truly wounded him.   
  
"I'm not. Now go away. I don't want to see you. I thought   
my silence after that phone call we shared might have   
proved that." She answered, not moving to let him in.   
  
"Quite the opposite actually. You made no move to dissuade   
my feelings for you." He made a gesturing sweep with his   
hand. "Aren't you going to let me in?"  
  
"Do I have a choice?"  
  
"Nope, I am going to stand here until you talk me out of   
loving you." He said, the smug smile once again gracing his   
features. Laura sighed and reluctantly allowed him   
entrance.   
  
Laura gestured for Tony to have a seat on the couch while   
she headed to the kitchen to pour some drinks. She checked   
on her dinner and headed back out.  
  
"He can't make you happy Laura. Not like I can." Tony   
wasn't wasting any time. "We had something back in Ireland   
Laura. There was chemistry between us. I felt it and I know   
you did to."  
  
"You only felt what I wanted you to, Tony. I used you. And   
I'm not proud of myself for it either." Laura answered,   
handing Tony his glass and taking a seat as far away from   
him as possible. "I wanted to make him jealous. In a way I   
wanted to hurt him. And I suppose I liked the attention."  
  
"I don't believe you."  
  
"Then don't believe me Tony! In the end it won't matter.   
I'm married. And happily married at that. Leaving with you   
was never an option. My heart belongs to Mr. Steele. It   
always has and it always will."  
  
Steele was just pulling up into the driveway when he   
noticed the blue Ford Taurus parked out in front. "Oh   
great" he muttered to himself as he got out of the car and   
walked up to the front door. He quietly unlocked the door   
and stepped inside un-noticed.  
  
Tony's back was to the door but Laura was facing the   
doorway but she was to caught up in what she was saying to   
notice that her husband had just walked in.   
  
They both jumped at the sound of his voice. "And my heart   
belongs to her, and I will stop anyone who tries to take it   
away from me." Steele declared, his expression turning to   
ice when it met Tony's shocked gaze. "Now I suggest you   
make a quick exit mate, unless you want to have an   
impromptu meeting with the south American government. I am   
sure they will be happy to know where their former number   
one agent is."  
  
"This is my last offer Laura. Come with me now. I wont be   
back."  
  
"Then the sooner you leave the sooner we can both move on."   
Laura answered.   
  
Tony gave one curt nod and stormed out of the house. The   
couple stood staring at each other until they heard the   
screeching tires of the Ford Taurus leaving the property.  
  
"Did you mean what you said? About your heart always   
belonging to me?" Steele asked, uncertainty glistening in   
his bright blue eyes.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Does this mean you aren't kicking me out?"  
  
"Yes" Laura said. Smiling as she took a small step towards   
him. "And you do realize that we haven't seen the last of   
him? Despite what he said?"  
  
"Yes." Remington replied, taking a step of his own towards   
Laura. "If he does return, we will handle it. Together."  
Laura walked the last few remaining steps and rapped her   
arms around her husband's neck. "These past two years have   
been wonderful. I don't want to throw them away."  
  
"And neither do I." Remington replied, his head descending   
to capture her lips in a gentle kiss. "Not to change the   
subject or anything, but what do I smell burning?"  
Laura's eyes grew big, as she too smelled something   
burning. "MY DINNER," she cried, untangling her arms from   
around Remington's neck, she made a mad dash for the   
kitchen. Remington was close behind her. "I cant even   
manage to make spaghetti." Laura whined, close to tears.  
  
"How about that wonderful little Italian place down the   
street? I hear they have wonderful Italian cuisine. " He   
said, a teasing smile playing across his face. He wrapped   
his arms around her waste as he awaited her reply.  
  
"Indeed Mr. Steele. Indeed." Hand in hand they took their   
first step towards a new future. One built on memories of a   
wonderful past and hopes of a wonderful future.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Two weeks later, after their heartfelt discussion and their   
meeting with Tony, Remington awoke to the smell of eggs   
frying and the soft sound of sizzling bacon. He heard his   
stomach growl and threw a quick glance to Laura's empty   
side of the bed. 'I better get in there before she burns   
down the house,' he thought to himself. He threw back the   
blankets and grabbed his robe. He was almost to the kitchen   
when he heard a muffled curse.  
  
Laura had been up early this morning, unable to sleep. Not   
wanting to wake Remington, she had dressed in a pair of   
faded blue jeans and white shirt and sat down in the living   
room to read a book. At around eight thirty she got a   
craving for eggs and bacon. 'Why not surprise him with   
breakfast?' She thought. So there she was now, up to her   
elbows in grease and doing a pretty damn good job at not   
burning the eggs. The bacon was looking absolutely   
scrumptious. She went to flip some of them over when some   
grease popped out of the pan and landed on her hand. She   
jerked her hand back, a muttered curse slipping past her   
lips.   
  
"Remington! Breakfast is ready!" She called.  
  
"So I see."  
  
She gasped and turned around to find him leaning up against   
the doorframe, hunger for her blazing in his eyes.  
  
"You scared me. How long have you been standing there?" She   
turned back to her task of preparing the plates. She picked   
them up and headed for their dining room.  
  
"Not long. Are these edible? Or do I need to put them under   
scientific testing?" Remington teased.  
  
"I am perfectly capable of making eggs thank you very   
much!" There was anger in her voice but the light in her   
eyes betrayed their intent. She set the plate down in front   
him and took her seat beside him.  
  
Mr. Steele carefully put one spoonful of eggs into his   
mouth and chewed. "Well, they taste like eggs. I must say   
Laura... I am impressed. Never knew you had it in you."  
"There are a lot of things you still don't know about me   
Mr. Steele."  
  
"Yes, but I am going to spend the rest of my life finding   
them out Mrs. Steele." Steele replied. 'And for once in my   
life, that doesn't bother me.' He said to himself, a warm   
smile spreading over his handsome features as he gazed at   
the love of his life seated across from him.  
  
The End  
  
Notes: This narration takes place two years after they were   
married. And yes, in this fic they were actually married. I   
am half borrowing and half creating my own little tale. I   
remember a fan fic somewhere some place about Steele faking   
their already faked marriage if that makes any sense… I   
used that because I had also thought about it and always   
believe that Steele would have never put Laura in that   
position. To me they will always be Mr. and Mrs. Remington   
Steele… and I have no clue what that hookers name is, and I   
really don't care, does anyone? Any suggestions you might   
have would be beneficial 


End file.
